DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear power systems

Re:DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear po... by thadt on Friday August 09, 2024 @09:16PM (#41206662)

Not Nickel-63 - Beta particles don’t go very far in air, and are shielded by almost anything. You’ll be unlikely to be alarming on beta emitters anywhere, unless they’re right up against your specialized Beta detector.

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Re:DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear po... by KiwiJohnno on Saturday August 10, 2024 @12:42AM (#41207363)

My understanding is, the danger with Beta emitters is if they are broken up into dust, and you breathe the dust in (or eat/drink it) then you are toast, as your lungs and internal organs get a small, but continuous bombardment of Beta particles which will eventually give you cancer.

If you are contaminated internally, with radioactive dust then there is no way to fix that.

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Re:DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear po... by lazide on Saturday August 10, 2024 @01:38AM (#41207570)

Also nearly impossible to detect. No roadside detector will, anyway.

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